There is the belief that we are human, imperfect, and should embrace that fact about ourselves. That we should include self-improvement in our life, but not let impossible ideas about perfection make us think less about ourselves.
Throughout our lives a majority of us will look at our face and body each day and criticize different aspects of how we look. Often, we will tell ourselves that it’s time to correct something through diet, exercise, treatments, or a medical procedure.
The idea that we should not focus too heavily on perfection is proven in psychology. It is shown to be unhealthy for the mind to rate our happiness on goals that are extremely difficult or impossible to achieve; then, if achieved, maintained.
However, improving our physical form from an unhealthy state to a healthy state, even if difficult, is normal and a healthy pursuit, both mentally and physically. The reason for this is because if we are in an unhealthy state we should work to become healthy to avoid illness and pain, ensure physical mobility, extend our life-expectancy, and ensure a higher quality of life, overall. All of those listed items are important to our well-being and happiness.
The same applies to maintaining and straight and aligned smile. Having teeth the are misaligned, crooked, or otherwise abnormal can have an impact on our short-term and long-term health.
Beyond self-image and the other aspects of mental health where having a straight smile can have a positive impact, there are detrimental effects to physical health with an improper smile and teeth orientation.
Misaligned teeth can cause uneven pressure on our teeth, jaw, gums, and the muscles on our face during chewing. This imbalance can cause improper wearing of the jaw joint, jaw bone, and gums, and muscular imbalances in the face. Jaw and muscular imbalance issues may lead to jaw point pain and chronic headaches. Also, having some teeth assume the greater role in chewing food, rather than balancing the load across more teeth, can lead to greater wear of those teeth and even cracking or shattering.
The alignment of teeth can also affect the way you speak. It can lead to word articulation problems. Compensating for these problems can strain the vocal cords. This, and the disruptions on your professional and personal life that a speech disorder can cause.
For some, having an improper alignment of teeth has led to improper chewing of food. This can cause digestion problems when the food reaches the stomach in a less digested form.
The proper cleaning of teeth and gums has been a problem for many with crooked teeth. The improper positioning of a tooth can make it difficult to brush or floss completely, leading to gum disease, cavities, and deeper oral health concerns.
As you can see, while our own self-esteem is a topic of concern when it comes to having a straighter and better aligned smile, there are far greater implications to our health. These concerns should not be avoided as they can likely will worsen over time. If you have a concern about the straightness of your teeth and smile, talk to your dentist. They specialize in the mouth, teeth, jaw, and surrounding, and will know how to help you.